Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 126682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“Come alone or prepare to say goodbye to your girl.”
“I can’t come alone,” I say, thinking on my proverbial feet. “You’ll hand Claire over to a caretaker in exchange for the video, and when they’ve left safely, I’ll tell you where Elena is.”
Nicole shakes her head so vehemently her updo comes down. Livy only purses her lips.
A moment of silence follows. If Raphael plans on letting Claire go, he’ll accept the offer. He can do with me whatever he wants once he has me in his power. He can use me to lure out Saverio, or he can torture me until I give up Elena’s location. If, however, he has no intention of letting Claire live, he’ll have a problem with my terms. In that case, he won’t let her leave with a caretaker. But I’m bargaining on the fact that he wants to know where Elena is more than he wants anything else. The humiliation she caused him was too great. And he knows I’ll never tell him if he doesn’t let my daughter go. Claire is his biggest bargaining chip.
After another beat, he says, “Fine. Bring that old granny. What’s her name again? Libby.”
“Livy,” I say, blood gushing in my ears. “Livy is frail. It’s not a good idea. I’ll bring a guard.”
Livy steps up, mouthing, “I’ll go.”
“No can do,” Raphael singsongs. “No guards. No weapons. Just you and the old bird. You’ll both be searched. I’ll text you the location. If you send your husband with an army instead of bringing me what I want, you know what’ll happen to your sweet baby girl. I’ll cut her to pieces, starting with these cute little toes and fingers. I’ll have her delivered to you in a box. I’m sure you get the picture.”
I swallow down bile. “I also have a condition. If Livy and I come alone, you’ll be alone as well.”
He laughs. “You’re not in a position to make demands.”
Is that a baby crying in the background? I look at Nicole quickly. She nods. She must’ve heard it too.
“I’m not walking into a trap,” I say.
“You’ll just have to take your chances. Or you do want me to send you an incentive? What do you prefer? A finger or a toe?”
I clench my teeth hard to prevent myself from crying with rage. “I’ll come with Livy.”
“Good,” he croons. “I’m already looking forward to it.”
The line goes dead.
“You can’t go,” Nicole cries out. “We have to call Sav.”
“We can’t do that,” Livy says. “Raphael isn’t a fool. He’s a dangerous man backed into a corner. If he thinks he’s going down, he’ll rather take Claire with him than give her back to her mother.”
A shudder runs through my body. My breathing turns shallow. Raphael has my baby. He already tried to kill us once. This time, he’ll finish the job. I have to get Claire back. I have to save my daughter. It’s all I dare to focus on.
When I turn to my friends, a strange calmness comes over me. “Nicole is right. We have to call Sav, but not straight away.”
Nicole gives a start. “What are you getting at?”
“You’ll let him know where we are, but not a second before I say so.”
Her cheeks lose their color. “You can’t seriously consider going in alone with Livy.”
“This is what we’ve been preparing for,” I point out gently.
“No.” Nicole backs away, waving her finger from side to side. “Oh no-no-no-no. We prepared for stitching Sav up if he gets shot or nicked. We prepared for other scenarios, not for this.”
“You know that’s not true.”
Nicole looks at Livy. “Tell her. Tell her it’s crazy.”
Livy’s reply is calm. “If you were in Anya’s shoes, what would you do?”
“Don’t you start with that.” Nicole plasters a hand on her neck and walks to the window. “Don’t even think about playing that card. If anything happens to the two of you…” Her voice breaks. “I don’t give a damn that Sav will kill me. I’d rather he slit my throat than live with the guilt.”
“This isn’t about your guilt,” Livy says harshly. “This is about Claire, or did you forget?”
“Dammit,” Nicole exclaims, pinning her arms at her sides as she faces us. “Of course I haven’t. How can I?”
“Then help us,” I beg.
My phone pings with a notification.
“Shit,” Nicole says, tilting her face to the ceiling and pacing with her palm pressed on her forehead. “Shit, Anya.”
I look at my phone. “He sent the location.”
Livy and Nicole observe me with pale faces.
I swallow. “We have twenty minutes to get there.”
Livy marches over and yanks the phone from my hand. She studies the address pinned in my maps app. “It’ll take us fifteen minutes to get there if nothing slows us down on the way.”
“Fuck.” Nicole drops her hand to her side, looking defeated. “What do you need me to do?”